From pervasive layoffs to continued price hikes, things didn’t go so well for Xbox in 2025. But even though Game Pass, the Xbox subscription service, isn’t quite the deal it once was, there are still a lot of excellent titles to check out. This was an especially good year for indie titles, with breakout hits like Blue Prince and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 dominating much of the conversation. Here are the best things to check out right now.
Image: Xbox Game Studios
Who the heck knows when Bethesda will finally release the next Elder Scrolls. But in the meantime, Avowed fills in that gap quite nicely. It’s a more contained fantasy RPG in terms of scale, but it’s still pretty big, and features a fascinating world to explore and combat that lets you mix and match with swords, guns, and magic. You can lose yourself in it without giving up all of your free time.
For some people, the idea of a game where you play as a sentient lighthouse solving puzzles in a world devoid of people is probably enough of a sales pitch. For everyone else, let me just say: Keeper is an incredible puzzle-platform game and unlike almost anything else I’ve ever played. Perhaps most impressive is that it’s constantly shifting, so that once you come to grips with its weirdo world, it changes into something new and different.
What really sets this action-adventure game apart is its distinct world. South of Midnight is set in the deep South and weaves together Black and Southern folklore and culture to create the kind of setting you almost never see in video games. On your quest you’ll fight various monsters and creatures in order to heal a blighted landscape, which involves wielding magic powers and partnering with a sentient stuffed toy.
One of the most popular games on Game Pass this year seemingly came out of nowhere. Developed by a brand-new studio called Sandfall Interactive, Clair Obscur is built in the mold of classic Japanese role-playing games like Final Fantasy, but with a distinctly French sense of style. Its mixture of sweeping story, incredible soundtrack, and open-ended combat helped it stand out in a very crowded genre.
More than a decade in the making, Routine is a harsh sci-fi horror game with a very old-school sense of style inspired by the Alien films. That means lots of chunky retrofuturistic gadgets to get your hands on, and a very bleak and terrifying moon base to explore — if you can summon the guts.
Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition
The return of the Fallout TV series means there’s a good chance you’ll be looking to explore the postapocalyptic wasteland in video game form, too. This new edition of Fallout 4 — which was first released back in 2015 — brings together the base game and all of the previous DLC, but otherwise mostly leaves the experience intact. As they say, war never changes.
How much time do you have? Because the thing about Blue Prince is that, if it gets its hooks in you, it’s going to be very hard to put down. The architectural puzzle game has you exploring a vast mansion at the same time you build it, all in an attempt to uncover its secrets and find an inheritance you’re owed.
We called this “the feel-good game of the summer,” which should make Wheel World ideal for the gloomy and gray winter months. It’s an open-ended adventure where you bike your way through a fantasy world in order to perform an ancient ritual, which involves assembling a bicycle of legend. Mostly, though, it’s a peaceful way to take in some beautiful sights while speeding down the street.
